VISALIA – On September 11, 2022 at approximately 12:42 a.m., Visalia Police Department officers responded to a report of a mountain lion in the area of 1900 block of W. Porter.  Officers located the mountain lion in the 2000 block of W. Sedona, managed to contain the animal and contacted California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CDFW wardens arrived, evaluated the situation, deployed a tranquilizer and safely capture the animal for transport to a suitable habitat where it was later released back into the wild. 

“CDFW wardens are trained to handle situations like this and are very good at safely resolving issues in which wildlife and humans intersect,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “ These wildlife officers responded in the middle of the night and were able to safely remove this mountain lion with no injuries to any person or to the mountain lion.”